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Minerva Kuroki
I love you, Mama. Gregori the Gray and his wife, a lovely lady by the name of Katsu, preferred to demonstrate their clan strength by taming the borderlands, rather than partaking in the political intrigue of the noble houses. The young couple claimed a piece of land beyond the Ironspike Mountains to the north, finishing their small home just before winter and the arrival of their first child. During their journey, other colonists’ tales of the great shadow bears that once roamed the territory had captivated Katsu—now heavily pregnant, she passed the time sitting near the fireplace, creating a toy version of the protective creatures. Just as she finished sewing the last button eye on the stuffed bear, the quickening of labor overcame her. Gregori remarked later that his daughter was eager to play with her new toy, for there, on an ember-warmed hearth, Katsu brought Minerva into the world. When Minerva was still a toddler, she and her father took ill. As night fell, Minerva began to burn with fever, and soon she was so hot, she could no longer be held in her mother’s arms. Katsu grew desperate, deciding at last to fetch icy water from the nearby river. The next morning Gregori awoke, weak and groggy from his sickness. In the crib, a now-healthy Minerva played with her stuffed bear, Tiggs, but Katsu was gone. Naïvely, Minerva believed her mother would one day return. Gregori would often find the girl sitting in her mother’s rocking chair near the hearth, hugging Tiggs and staring into a crackling fire, where he was sure there had been nothing but cold ashes. He chalked up these slips of the mind to the burden of parenting a child alone. Years passed, bringing more colonists to the region. And in time, Gregori met Leanna, a woman seeking a new life outside the capital with her own young daughter, Daisy. Minerva was eager for a playmate, but spoiled by the indulgences of being an only child, so acclimation to her new stepfamily was difficult. Whenever Minerva’s fiery temper erupted, it left Leanna uneasy, and quick to take her own daughter’s side. It fell to Gregori to keep an uneasy peace between the three. Unused to the dangers of the untamed borderlands, Daisy’s playing ended in catastrophe for the family. Leanna, of course, blamed Minerva for the loss of her daughter, focusing her rage and grief on her stepdaughter’s most prized possession: Tiggs. Minerva was horrified as the last physical memory of her mother was threatened. The girl’s terror grew to an unbridled rage, releasing her latent and powerful astrakinesis, and their home lit up in a maelstrom of astral energy constructed to act like fire. When the flames died down and the swirl of ash settled, Minerva was left orphaned and alone. A week later, Charles Xavier, an omega level telepathic mutant heard about this tragedy then decided to adopt the young Minerva to help her control her new found ability, but as well as how to use them for good. A Cold Week If there was one thing Marcin knew how to do, it was to keep his head down. Before him, rowdy voices intermingled with the clatter of tankards and the sloshing of beer. Every once in a while, someone barked a drink order, and just as soon as their coin landed on the bar, a drink slid in front of their waiting hands. His quick and silent service kept him unnoticed—and as such, uninvolved in any trouble. And there was always trouble. It took on many forms. A belligerent brawler, itching for a fight. A transaction among cloaked figures that ended with a dagger through a throat. Or, perhaps most unexpectedly, a little girl, pushing through the heavy tavern door. Marcin watched the girl hum and skip her way toward the bar. Behind her, the door slammed shut, one last swirl of winter air blasting across the room, the loud bang''grabbing the last few eyes that weren’t already following her, baffled by her presence. The girl clambered up a stool, barely peeking over the edge of the bar. Marcin took in the child’s jet black hair, the tattered toy clutched in her grip, the frayed satchel on her back, and the ragged, unseasonably short-sleeved, dress. “What can I get for you?” he asked. The girl stood on the stool and plopped her toy on the counter, peering at the many bottles on shelves. Marcin could see it was a stuffed bear, once well crafted, since well loved. The stitching at its limbs were visible after many years of stress. Somewhere in its life it had lost one of its button eyes. “Could I get a glass of milk, please?” Marcin raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He walked toward the far end of the bar to fetch the ceramic jug. “Awfully late for you to be out by yourself, ain’t it?” a deep voice rumbled. Marcin sighed. Trouble always attracted more trouble. He pulled the jug down from the shelf and gazed back down the bar. A large man next to the girl had turned to peer down at her with his one good eye. Seated in front of him, the girl looked like a pebble at the foot of a mountain. He was a pile of muscles criss-crossed with scars. The loops of ropes, chains, and hooks at his belt, along with the massive blade slung across his back, loudly announced him as a bounty hunter. The girl looked up at him and flashed a smile. “I’m not alone. Tiggs is here with me. Aren’t you, Tiggs?” She held up the bear, beaming. The bounty hunter laughed out loud. “Surely your parents must be missing you.” The girl’s hands dropped to her side as her eyes drifted down and away. “I don’t think so,” she replied. “Aw, but I do think so. Would pay a pretty penny to see you home safe, I imagine.” Marcin could practically hear the coins clinking in the bounty hunter’s mind, the man already tallying up the prize for her safe return. “They can’t. They’re dead.” The girl plopped back down on the stool, staring into the button eye of her bear. The bounty hunter started to speak again just as Marcin placed the mug down on the counter with a percussive thud. “Your milk,” he said. The girl turned and beamed at him, breaking from her sullen mood. “Thank you, sir!” She set her bear on the table and reached back into her knapsack. Marcin waited, prepared to accept any coin she put down as payment enough. He did not expect the massive purse that landed with a clatter. A few golden coins bounced onto the counter, one rolling toward the edge. Marcin stopped it on reflex, one finger pinning the escapee. Slowly, he lifted it from the bar, its heft and texture proclaiming it as authentic currency. “Oopsie!” the little girl giggled. Marcin swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He reached over, hoping to shove the coin and the purse back into the girl’s satchel before anyone else noticed— “That’s a mighty big purse for a mighty small girl,” the bounty hunter growled, far too loudly. “Tiggs found it,” the girl replied. The bounty hunter snorted. “Is that so?” “It was on the man who stopped me in the road. He was a real meanie.” The girl took a sip of her milk, her attention back on her bear. “That’s too bad…” The bounty hunter leaned in closer on his stool, hand sliding towards the purse. The girl looked up at him, a playful smile dancing across her face. “Tiggs ate him.” For a moment, everything stood still. Then the bounty hunter’s laugh cut across the room. “I’m sure he did,” he roared. He thrust a meaty hand forward, grasping the toy by the head and yanking it away from the girl. “This big ol’ scary monster.” “Let Tiggs go!” the girl cried out, reaching up for the bear. “He doesn’t like being pulled.” The bounty hunter just laughed harder. Marcin pocketed the coin in his hand and turned away, walking unnoticed toward the back. He wished he could help, but he hadn’t survived this long by sticking around longer than he should. Her voice stopped him cold. “I said. Let. Tiggs. Go.” The words rumbled with gravel and rage, cutting through the din. Against all his better judgement, Marcin paused and looked back. The girl stood on the bar, staring at the bounty hunter, fury smoldering in her eyes. Then chaos erupted. A flare of light and a burst of heat erupted from the girl. Too late, Marcin threw his arms up, crying out in pain. He stumbled back, knocking into the shelves behind him. Several bottles crashed around him as he ducked beneath the bar, cursing his idiotic hesitation. The screams of men and the sound of breaking wood punctuated a growing roar of flame. A guttural, impossible sound reverberated through the air, rattling his bones. Marcin crawled, still half-blinded, toward where he hoped the doors to the kitchens were. Around him, the screams heightened—then stopped with a stomach-turning crack. For the second time that day, Marcin forgot all his honed skills of avoiding trouble and peered over the edge of the bar. A hulking beast loomed, silhouetted against the firelight. Thick strands of sinew bound its limbs to its torso like stitching. With a start, Marcin realized the beast itself ''burned, unharmed by the hungry tongues of flame that danced across its fur. In its claws it held aloft, by the head, the slumped, bloody form of the bounty hunter, a limp rag doll in the massive paws of the monster. Before it, the little girl stood wreathed in fire. “You’re right, Tiggs,” she said. “He didn’t like being pulled either.” Marcin looked around the room in horror. Throughout his tavern, overturned chairs and tables ignited, raising a thick, black smoke. The smell of blood and burning flesh crawled inside his nose, and Marcin choked back a cough, his stomach turning. The beast turned and looked at him. A whimper escaped Marcin’s lips. He gazed into the glowing abyss of the bear’s eyes, and swallowed in the certainty of his end. A peal of laughter rang out over the crackle of flames. “Don’t worry,” the little girl said, peering around the monstrosity. “Tiggs likes you.” Marcin watched, frozen, as the girl hopped, skipped, jumped her way through the burning tavern, the beast lumbering behind her. He stared as it smashed the heavy door off its hinges. He gaped as the little girl turned back one last time, a sweet smile back on her face. “Thanks for the milk, sir.” And then, the girl walked out into the snowy night as the tavern collapsed behind her. Astrakinesis Minerva can create, shape and manipulate astral energy, allowing her to project her astral form on physical plane and to the astral plane and interact there, see spirits, making spirits visible to others, astral trapping and potentially harming the dead. She can allow others to be able to use temporarily astral projection or block others from astral projecting, sending them back to their bodies if they had already projected. * Astral Energy Construction Minerva can can generate astral energy and turn astral energy into tools, objects, weapons and other items, even create semi-living constructs and/or create structures/buildings of astral energy. Limitations # Minerva's construction can be broken if the amount of force that is applied is greater than the amount Minerva's imagination can produce. # If the construct takes too much damage it may be difficult to maintain and can break, especially if Minerva has problems with maintaining focus. * Astral Projection Minerva can separate her spirit from the body by entering a trance, gaining access of travel the Astral Plane. Limitations # Minerva's body is essentially dead/in a coma and thus very vulnerable during astral projection. # Require Minerva to be asleep or be in a meditative state while riding the astral plane. * Astral Vision Minerva can see overlapping dimensions/planes of existence and the unseen creatures inhabiting them, but not into other realities or dimensions that do not directly overlap her own. Limitations # Minerva need to focus to turn it on and off. Natural Traits 意志 Ishi (Will) Minerva has unnaturally strong willpower, enabling her to be highly resistant to all forms of temptation including Subordination Manipulation, Telepathy, Mind Control and Subliminal Seduction. Through her will, Minerva can face great physical pain and psychological trauma and will refuse to surrender no matter how much the odds are stacked against her, possibly pushing herself past her own limitations, but it could cost her life. 創造性 Sōzō-sei (Creativity) Minerva has an overactive imagination, allowing her to be extremely creative, which accompanies her astral energy construction very well. Minerva's natural talent to think outside the box makes her an unpredictable opponent during combat. Skills * Weapon Proficiency Minerva is proficient in numerous of weapons, she was taught by samurais that Charles hired to allow Minerva still be in touch with her culture. Minerva knows how to use a couple of weapons: # Sword/Katana # War Fan (Steel Fan, Gunbai) # Polearm # Sai * Kodokan Judo Minerva have mastered the martial arts style, Kodokan Judo. Kodokan Judo includes techniques from wrestling, sambo, and of course modern jujitsu. * Violinist '' Minerva has shown to be extremely talented playing the violin. * ''Pianist Charles Xavier taught Minerva how to play the piano and ever since she has been proficient at it. * Athletic During Minerva's time with the samurais, Minerva trained day in and out for one whole year. Minerva now possesses athletic abilities at the most pinnacle training of peak potential. She is even athletic in her astral form, breaking astral projection stereotypes. Weaknesses * Tiggs Minerva has only shown one unique weakness which is noted by Charles, Minerva's teddy bear, Tiggs. Being the only physical item she has of her mother, Minerva have a deep attachment to it and can lose her state of reasoning when she feels it is threatened, which can lead her to make easy mistakes or even a breakdown.